(Theatre) (First Viewing, 1st Brahm film)
It's a B-film through and through, but it makes up in the entertainment department what it lacks in technical achievement.
Based on the Raymond Chandler novel The High Window (which I quite like), Brasher Doubloon gives George Montgomery a shot at stepping into the shoes of
Philip Marlowe, and though he's no Humphrey Bogart, I actually quite liked him after a while. He's a more polished and urbane version of Marlowe, but it works.
The Brasher Doubloon plays like a poor-man's Big Sleep, as it is the Chandler dialogue that gives the proceedings a touch of class. I suppose Nancy Guild is rather appealing in her own odd way as the love interest involved in the mystery, and Florence Bates is a hoot as the eccentric mountain of a woman who employs Marlowe (think Sydney Greenstreet in a dress).
Nothing really spectacular here, just a competant and often entertaining B-film that as a huge fan of Raymond Chandler, I'm glad I was able to see.
March 5, 2004
